Spring Concerts Feature Bienen School String Ensembles

EVANSTON, Ill. --- The spring line-up of classical and modern orchestral performances by the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia and Chamber Orchestra includes works by Tchaikovsky, Respighi and Strauss as well as Peter Schickele and Charles Ives.

Presented by the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music, the following events are open to the public and take place on the University’s Evanston campus at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive.

• The Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra launches the spring performance season at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 27, in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Victor Yampolsky will conduct the ensemble in Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain,” Alexander Tchaikovsky’s “Aquarius,” Scriabin’s “Reverie” and Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances.” Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students.

• Robert G. Hasty conducts the Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra in a program titled “Sounds of Spring,” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 4, in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. The performance includes Respighi’s “Gli uccelli” (“The Birds”), Strauss’ Duet-Concertino, which features two Northwestern Bienen School faculty members -- clarinetist Steven Cohen and bassoonist Lewis Kirk, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F Major, “Pastoral.” Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students.

• The Bienen School’s Student Advisory Board presents “A Night at the Movies,” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 8, in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Selections from popular film scores, including music from “Les Miserables,” “Chicago” and “West Side Story,” will be performed by students from Northwestern and Chicago-area music outreach programs. Admission is free.

• Victor Yampolsky conducts the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra at 7:30p.m. Saturday, May 18, in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. The performance features violinist Janet Sung and includes the Overture to Massenet’s “Phedre,” Henri Dutilleux’s concerto for violin and orchestra “L’Arbre des Songes” and Walton’s Symphony No. 1 in B-flat Minor. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students.

• Robert G. Hasty conducts the Philharmonia at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, June 2, in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Pianist Xuan He is the featured soloist in a program that includes Czech-American contemporary composer Tomas Svoboda’s “Overture of the Season,” Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor and Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B Minor (“Unfinished”). Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students.

• Robert G. Hasty also conducts the Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra in a performance of “American Folk Music” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 6, in Pick-StaigerConcert Hall. The program features Peter Schickele’s Concerto for Chamber Orchestra, Charles Ives’ Symphony No. 3 and Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $4 for students.

• Victor Yampolsky conducts the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra and University Chorale in a program titled “American Explorer,” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 8, in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Repertoire for this collaborative performance includes Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Serenade to Music,” Howard Hanson’s “Song of Democracy” and Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Higdon’s “Singing Rooms,” featuring violinist Charlotte Malin. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students.